13 Doomsday Plus One
by redcloudedleopard
Summary: Aside from the Four, Ozai & Azula are under the watch of Victor von Doom as well. Doom unpredictably launches the Baxter Building into space, outside the pull of gravity. Story's told from Reed's perspective.
1. Infiltration

A good game of chess with not one, but _two_ supercomputers proved to reduce the usage of my brainpower at this hour. I had a little insomnia (which I occasionally & inevitably would have as a superhero team leader), so I stayed up to repair a few components in the lab whilst I played a few relaxing rounds with H.E.R.B.I.E. & L.Y.

I made a good move, "Knight to queen's bishop three. Checkmate!" Fourteen games so far, & I had beat him at all of them. I had beaten L.Y. at all thirteen games I played with her so far as well. Boy, chess was something I never had enough of, quite frankly! The drilling by my father, Nathaniel Richards, since I was a tender age kept me consistently at the top of my game.

"Awww! Shouldn't I be better at chess than this? You always win!" whined H.E.R.B.I.E.

"Would you care to allow me to challenge H.E.R.B.I.E. to a game just between us both, Dr. Richards?" asked L.Y. in a polite but teasing fashion.

H.E.R.B.I.E. was shy around her, I noticed, & uttered, "Of course not! Our current job is keeping Dr. Richards' stress level at a complete minimum." I wager he only said that to avoid becoming too nervous around L.Y. That I found hilarious. My computer then said to me, "Can we try tic t -- D...D...Doom!"

He hadn't finished his question.

I was puzzled & called out, "H.E.R.B.I.E.?" There wasn't a response from him. "L.Y.?" I then asked Ozai's computer. She failed to answer me as well. The lab felt completely normal, save for the absence of the computers. It was time to probe this problem at its source after I get some relevant findings....

"Reed?" my communicator buzzed all of a sudden. I fastened it on properly. At least I didn't have to rely on my computer to relay messages to teammates all the time.

"Ozai, our computers aren't functioning. We have to look into this," I told him.

"Yes, I see your point. There's more to worry about: a few Doombots are making their way up the walls right outside."

"Come up to the penthouse. We need you & Azula."

I proceeded to the elevator to begin my descent, when I heard crashing noises coming from downstairs. It sounded like another rift between Ben & Johnny: nothing harmful there, really. A little competition now & then could be said to be healthy, even necessary to ensure the Fantastic Four were well united. Still, I had to make sure of it. I was right; I could still detect Susan's voice through all of that cacophony. She was yelling, "Johnny! & Ben! What did I tell you? Not in the house!!"

Then came the sound of robotic noises - it spelled trouble. My ears were already attuned to the sounds Ozai's armour made, & these sounds clearly meant it wasn't him in the corridor at this moment. The elevator made it in time for me to stretch off fast enough.

"Target: Human Torch. Weapon: Ice Cannon." A Doombot, on the verge of attacking Johnny. I sprang into action immediately; I lengthened my body to give myself more milliseconds to help Johnny lest the Doombot's attack was successful. When I was within close range of Johnny, I was able to shove him aside thus dodging a stream of the Doombot's freezing liquid. Before the machine made further progress, I rapidly stretched my right arm to bend its cannon in the opposite direction - it worked. The robot froze itself still until it lost almost all its functionality.

Suddenly Azula jumped in front of us; with one leg she performed a fiery roundhouse kick. There were sparks of blue as she then delivered another kick sideward to bring the robot to the floor.

"Morning, guys," she greeted us.

"Show off...," muttered Johnny with a smile that looked sarcastic.

Susan came out of her room in her superhero suit. It appeared that Johnny was looking her with a somewhat disappointed expression. "What?" asked Susan.

"I was about to get frozen & you went to change your clothes?" snapped Johnny.

Susan was quick to get back at him, "Well you're fine, aren't you? Anyway, those were my good pyjamas."

Ben climbed his way out of a pile of rubble. "I think your alarm system needs some work, Stretch," he said. Ozai was with him, his armour set to Quad Mode. Wow, he came up the elevator in no time! In just weeks he had become a trusted, efficient friend of ours, assisting us whenever he could. Moreover, Azula was a handy addition to the group, a perfect example especially to Johnny. Apart from a few disagreements the two of them had occasionally, they could get along fairly well. Johnny's fighting style improved since he was (very incredibly) open to lessons in martial arts given by her. Susan told me how grateful she was: the training could kill two birds with one stone. Not only would Johnny's formidability increase, his discipline would, too. He played his games with me the least plainly out of respect for the team leader. But with kung fu, I bet he'd learn to **listen to advice & accept instruction** not just from me & not just during our missions.

In Ozai's Leopard X jaws a piece of a Doombot arm was hanging. I found it so intriguing how he could somehow operate his cyborg merely with his body movements yet get it to perform authentic, complex animalistic functions.

Doom hatched a new plan at such an inconvenient time. Our enemies rarely struck in the wee hours of the morning, but such an idea was mooted by our most cunning opponent. _Ughhhhh..._I was thinking. Furthermore, just this week I had beefed up the entire building's systems. Never mind.

No doubt that the culprit was Doom, given how his mind was ravenous & always hungered for knowledge inquisitively. Being our arch foe, his primary goal was to keep finding ways to defeat the Fantastic Four. It would be unwise to not expect the unexpected from such a dangerous man like him. For a split second or two, I sadly recalled myself & him contending in the college classrooms all those years ago. Those simple intellectual battles had become violent fights in recent months.

I explained to the team, "H.E.R.B.I.E. has been compromised...it looks like Doctor Doom is back." They all complained, as I expected. The three of them had been fast asleep, after all. Actually I was glad I hadn't been able to sleep, or things could've been worse. It dawned on me, though, that this would possibly be Leopard X & Blue Dragon's _first time_ seeing Victor himself in person. He'd study & scrutinize them much more closely from now on. More superhero lives were on the line & I hoped Victor would not get the upper hand with any nasty surprises up his sleeve.


	2. Victor in the Night

"You never learn, Richards...," said H.E.R.B.I.E. Something dark & sinister undergirded the sound of his voice. I looked up at H.E.R.B.I.E. in anticipation. Who knows the day when you'll be outsmarted or under attack by your supercomputer? You had to have good, sound relations with an artificially intelligent talking machine.

He continued, his tone undergoing a drastic shift in pitch this time, "Doom is inevitable." In front of us all a hologram of Doom himself popped up. True to his impatient nature (unfortunately), Johnny fired a projectile at the hologram's head; only to hit Ben & set him off.

"Matchstick!! Even I knew that was a hologram!" my best friend raised his voice. I feared he'd become disgruntled which would make conversing with him very awkward…

Johnny brushed a hand against the hologram, "Ooo. Sorry, bud." Azula then let out a little giggling; I must say Johnny was good at tickling her funny bone.

Susan questioned, "What does Doom want this time, Reed?"

The hologram spoke bluntly before I could, "I'll tell you what I want, Susan - your _complete & utter destruction. _The four of you have interfered with my plans once too often. Now you pay the price."

I lay a protective hand on Sue to lead her away from the hologram, lest Victor programmed it to perform physically _harmful _functions. "Ignore him. I've got a lock on Doom's signal, where he must have infiltrated the building. Ozai & Azula, come with us. Ben, Susan, stay here & keep watch," I urged. My plan was that we locate & confirm the source of our foe's signal. We arrived at the elevator only to bump into, of all people, our 'best' neighbours besides Ozai & Azula.

"And then I came & found you, Courtney dear. Oh, are we here?" muttered Mrs. Monet.

"Susan!" growled Courtney, our grumpiest of neighbours.

Susan quickly made a point, "Courtney...Mrs. Monet...you know, when we said you could stop by anytime, this isn't what we meant." I expected a little bit of a hold-up if I stayed to chat, therefore I took off in direction of the signal after Ozai & his daughter, who were taking the lead at that period of time. Confidence bubbled in me that Susan could handle some grouchiness by herself.

I heard the women speaking to Susan. "How droll. Do you know what time it is? Four in the morning. Do you know what I shouldn't have to put up with at four in the morning? Noise! Light shining in my windows! Things climbing the building walls," babbled Courtney.

I didn't mind Mrs. Monet the slightest; she said sweetly, "There's a robot in my apartment. I think it's talking to the refrigerator. They're very cute together."

I thought I'd pass a message, "Yes, uh...why don't you catch up when you're done there, Susan? Doom's signal is coming from the dangerous artifacts room," I called out with an elongated neck. The rest of me stood in another corridor, nearer to the room I'd mentioned. Leopard X was already waiting for me there, keeping watch. As I shortened my elastic body I noticed him standing in Dupe Mode, alert for whatever was suspicious. Azula did the same.

"I knew that room was a bad idea. It's even got the word 'dangerous' in it," Susan was yelling from the other side of the corridor.

"She's right," commented Ozai in his metallic voice from under his helmet. He did mean that jokingly, though. The three of us hitched an elevator ride up to the signal's location. I shuddered slightly when Doom's hologram appeared so suddenly in front of us.

"Your efforts are futile. You know this, don't you? You can feel it. You & your friends are forever at the mercy of Doom," he muttered coldly.

I did have a slew of measures in store for upcoming troubles; I could honestly defend us all with some words, "We'll see about that." Our arch foe may have caught us in a somnolent mood, but he wasn't going to be all that good at casting a pall on us all. He had tried that countless times before without making it work. I pitied him, truthfully speaking.

Victor played nice, "Yes, we will." I mustered enough hope in order to remember a great teaching: **pride goes before destruction**. I couldn't place in my mind exactly who taught me that, however. Related to that phrase, it held much truth based on our adventures battling Doom. His degree of arrogance was…most _intriguing_. Susan ranted about this frequently in her frustrations, but I had grown so used to that trait of his.

That's when the entire vicinity seemed to shake. Doom's eyes boasted their eerie green glow; Ozai's armoured tail began twitching as he let out a low growling noise. Both Azula & I looked around for other signs.

"What have you done, Victor?" I enquired of him very firmly. He only maintained the same gaze at us, saying nothing. We were approaching the desired floor when Ozai conveyed something urgent, "I hear Ben. He's saying to grab Johnny!"

"Huh?" I asked. We arrived at the corridor that would take us to the Dangerous Artifacts Room. However, given what Ozai told me, we rushed to look out the window. Thank goodness for his heightened sense of hearing in his cyborg suit – Johnny was darting upward only to have his oxygen supply nearly depleted dangerously, for we realized the entire Baxter Building (along with its residents) was space-bound. It must have been freezing outside for poor Johnny. He halted in mid-flight for several seconds before falling back downward, giving in to gravity's pull.

Without further ado I hit a button causing the large window to fly open. Immediately I extended an arm outside while l fixed my eyes on Johnny to accurately catch him by the right wrist. I managed to do so before he would literally fall out of sight. Pulling him in fast, I couldn't have felt better having Leopard X with me. If not for him, Johnny would've plunged down in a descent so dangerous I refused to want to picture it.

The air pressure was almost overwhelming; therefore I shut the window the fastest I could. I flung Johnny accidentally into Azula & they were sprawled on the floor.

"Oh, my apologies," I told them both.

"Hotstuff! Oww!" said a cringing Azula. It looks like they didn't hear me. Oh well.

"It wasn't on purpose," Johnny barked back. He said to me, "Thanks Reed. That's was...whew...hang on. Okay, what were we talking about?" He gasped many times between the sentences to catch his breath.

I told him, "Thank Ozai; I think he just saved your life. Literally."

We both turned to our occasionally four-legged friend. He just grinned & shrugged a little before gesturing with a hand, "Thank me later. Let's settle the whole sleep interruption first."


	3. Turning Things Around

The four of us entered the room at last.

"Heeeeey, I remember this place. Sue locked me in here once. What's it called?" queried Johnny.

"The Dangerous Artifacts Room," I answered.

"Cool," he exclaimed.

"Why 'dangerous', exactly?" asked Azula.

"It's where we keep track of the villains we've faced at least once; I've catalogued a particular object that used to be in possession of each villain in each containment unit here."

"Neat," she finally said, sounding satisfied.

I concluded afterward, "I think we can safely assume the signal is coming from here."

Johnny added, "I don't know. I'm starting to think this might be the Mole Man's work." Always with the Mole Man, I thought to myself. Johnny probably despised the least hygienic of villains.

Victor's hologram appeared yet again – in the same container where I stored his first Adamantium mask we had obtained after a victorious fight against him. He definitely made a new one to use now. The hologram spoke on a lighter but still menacing note, "Your efforts are amusing, Richards. You amuse me. Part of me will miss these games we played."

I responded, "You can send all the robots you want, Doom. As a team of six, we'll beat them." When would he _ever _give over thinking of flaunting his arrogance? Even after I recruit two new superheroes that volunteer their services in assisting the Four.

"& this building is a sealed environment. We'll survive being launched into space," I further added.

"Yeah! I'm surviving right now. So deal with that!" barked Johnny, waving a finger.

Ozai had his say, "Don't push your luck, Doom. You sound so certain that you'll win this that you don't come close to sounding _true_."

Victor uttered words that we had to take into consideration, "Luck? Who ever said anything about luck? Witnessing your defeat would please me dearly." Part of me could well tell he was smiling behind the mask. "Do you really think I would just leave you here? By the way…checkmate," he finished speaking.

Johnny commented, "I'm guessing checkmate is bad."

"No kidding there, Jonathan," said Ozai, growling lowly.

We all remained as vigilant as we could. From the corner of my eye I observed Leopard X's ears twitching & changing directions to amplify any sounds undetectable by normal human ears. His body jerked all of a sudden: something was vexing him; we others had a good reason to feel the same. At that exact moment, every light around the room flickered twice or so. Two muffled but serious-sounding explosions followed.

In one split second a large fraction of the wall to our right – separating us all from the very exterior of the building broke off. In the zone of zero gravity outside we caught sight of several other wall fragments floating about. I entertained hopes that none of us would be sucked out into space; unfortunately I wasn't a hundred percent accurate!

Although Ozai successfully dug into the floor with his claws (securing himself firmly in the process), Johnny & Azula were dragged backward & through the crack in the wall. With my lower body I could shape myself into a flatter form to grab them both in time. Now I could confidently entertain the hope they were safe. When I looked back to check, they looked rather uncomfortable being packed close together in my grip.

"Watch it!" snapped Johnny.

"You too! You're…_too_ close!!!" retorted Azula.

Ozai & I looked at each other & ignored their little bickering session.

"Reed! Hold me!" Johnny yelled louder.

"Hold us!" Azula corrected him.

My arms were wrapped around the Adamantium mask's containment unit. Its glass wall shattered as a result of the pressure exerted & the mask flew out at great speed. Fortunately, I could let go one arm to catch it before it'd be lost in space. Johnny & Azula could be heard struggling behind me to hang on. Then I proceeded to activate a handy building function I programmed some time back – to shield a fraction of the structure with an additional wall hidden from view. That wall patched up the hole just nicely after I had pulled Johnny & Azula back in.

Some little fears in me were quieted. I breathed out relaxingly.

Johnny made a point, "Yep. 'Checkmate' is bad. I knew it!"

Funnily, the four of us were drifting in mid-air. I took it to my liking though, in good spirits.

"Building systems should be back online. Hmmmm….Well, I've always wanted an excuse to install artificial gravity in the building," I said.

"That would be fascinating, not to mention enjoyable," commented Ozai, sounding cheerful.

H.E.R.B.I.E. surprised us, "Hi, everyone! I'm back! Hey, look…we're in space! Neat!!"

Another burden lifted off me. My computer would take that weight easily.

***

I instructed H.E.R.B.I.E., "Artificial gravity field online." "Alright! Party in Reed's lab!!" exclaimed Johnny. I'd agree; Ben & Susan must have rounded up everyone else in the building & have them remain here in case of danger. An excellent strategy, I said in my mind with a smile. Susan was nowhere in sight, however. I hoped she was busy carrying out other tasks unharmed.

"Oh, I wish Mr. Fluffykins was here! My kitty loves to jump!" squeaked Mrs. Monet.

Mr. Bartleby was like a jitterbug, "Tell me the truth, Reed…we're in another galaxy, aren't we? We're involved in some kind of space war! Tell me…I can take it."

"Easy there, Bartleby," Ben assured him. "This can't be everyone, can it? The building is huge, & this is it?" my best friend questioned me.

I explained, "We do have a few vacancies…Well, most of the building, actually. I suspect that the constant super-villain attacks are keeping potential tenants away."

"That is better than worse, actually," said Ozai. He was fingering his chin in realization.

"_Wimps._ Can I have all the empty apartments?" asked Johnny very spontaneously. He was dangerously too apt to want so much at a time.

I directed a "no" at him before he continued, then ordered H.E.R.B.I.E. to attempt an override sequence on any remaining Doombots.

"Okie dokie!!" he replied quirkily.

More weight was shaken off me when Susan came up the floor elevator platform. I was so glad she was doing fine. "Not that holding in all the building's heat & oxygen with my brain wasn't fun…but how did this happen?! How did Doom get in? & do…THIS?!" she asked.

I answered, "Doom IS a genius, if you remember. I know you all think the world of me, but he is very, very smart. & motivated. But he failed…we're all still here."

Johnny interjected, "Yeah, here in outer space! The Fantasticar's toast, what are we going to do, flag down a passing space shuttle?"

"No. We're going back. Now, with a little help from Doom," I told them all, much to their surprise. (I had expected such a reaction from them)

"H.E.R.B.I.E., do you have control?" I asked.

"Look at me! I'm a Doombot!" the computer chirped.

Susan wasn't pleased, "Wait…what are you…No! You've got to be kidding! This is our home, not a space ship!" She had yet to understand. A little rocketing wouldn't hurt our residence that much, based on my calculations.

"Are you really sure you can do this?" queried Azula nervously.

In my opinion, **fear was more often than not proven to be a snare**. By trusting in the incredible laws of science, I could make sure with near perfect accuracy that my team & I were kept safe. I backed my decision up with reasons, "We can't wait. Launching the building into space is too elaborate just to wipe us out. Doom is up to something. We have to get back anyway, right?"

No one replied.

"Right?" I repeated. I guess they were too perplexed to even go against me. Only Ozai nodded in silence: a good indication of trust, at least. He seemed unaffected by what I had said. Thus I carried on with the plan at hand.

"Ooo! Ooo! I'll drive!" said an excited Mrs. Monet with a tumult of joy. Of course she wouldn't. I heard it was illegal for her to drive, anyway.

Somehow, I had to make sure anxiety was overwhelming no one, regarding the landing we were about to make, "Okay. Is everybody ready?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Please don't do this!"

As expected, just about everyone started talking till I couldn't make out whatever they were saying. But given the time on our hands, we had to utilize Doom's rockets that he fastened onto the exterior walls here & now. Time & time again we defeated Victor, & I was sure that time would play a role in sharpening his dislike for us into a deadly resentment. His motives would change, as he'd spend his time finding a way around our team strategies & weaving new villainous plots together.

"Good! Susan…are you ready?" I asked. She, Azula & Johnny had gone to position themselves in the hangar right at the top of the building. I had opened up the roof for an imperative reason: Susan could replace it with a giant force field that would be able to withstand the heat resulting from entering the earth's atmosphere at high speed. Johnny & Azula shared the job of absorbing the excess heat. If the roof remained closed, it would burn to a crisp before we landed.

"No. Just say 'no'…," Johnny was stuttering.

"Johnny say's he's ready," said Susan & Azula at the same time, probably to tease him.

"H.E.R.B.I.E…FIRE ALL ROCKETS!" I instructed.


	4. The Landing

We took off at incredibly high speed; I certainly hoped we weren't being too severe on the neighbours, save for Mrs. Monet who exceptionally enjoyed herself from the moment the rockets got to work.

"Richards! Next time, I think we should just let this Doom fellow destroy you!" reprimanded Courtney. Thankfully, I was good at shifting my attention away from her.

I didn't mind Mrs. Monet on the other hand, who was jumpy indeed, "Can we go any faster?"

"Adjust rocket four, two point four degrees on the z-axis…Rocket two, decrease power by four point three percent," I gave another command after performing mental calculations.

Ben said to me, "I'm feeling kinda useless up here…I wish I could help Suzy & the kid. Now I feel bad for switching out Johnny's lamp with that fire extinguisher."

"Uh, Ben, the comm. channels are open," I alerted him, knowing what Johnny would say.

"_I knew it!! I knew it was you!_" he yelled at the top of his voice.

"Aw, crud," muttered Ben.

"Ignore him, Ben. It's fair enough!" I could hear Azula shouting.

"It is NOT, for crying out loud!" Johnny retorted. Ben felt better that Johnny was becoming fatigued by Azula's intelligent way with words.

A few of us were kind of jolted when Ozai lost some patience & roared at his daughter & Johnny, "Okay, you two! CAN WE FOCUS ON THE TASK AT HAND? PLEASE?" Never before was his voice at such a high volume, with its metallic ringing reverberating throughout the whole space. From the other end of the comm. channel line there was total noiselessness. Even Ben appeared to be rendered speechless, looking at me in a strange way. Ozai exhaled before telling me,

"Sorry…it must be my lack of sleep." He had his forehead in the palm of his robot paw.

"That worked," Ben told him humorously.

Moments passed before I uttered the quickest I could, "Reverse the rockets. Let's slow our descent."

Even H.E.R.B.I.E. relished the experience, "No problem! Doombots! Obey the command of H.E.R.B.I.E.!"

Our speed decreased gradually as we cut completely through the planet's atmospheric layer, revealing to us the waters below.

"Er, Dr. Richards? Remember when I said 'no problem'? Well, we have a slight problem now." Uh oh, I started thinking. Finally H.E.R.B.I.E. said, "We're going to crash."

That was when Courtney seized an opportunity to rebuke me further, "If I don't survive this, you'll be talking to my LAWYER!"

Again I brushed her off. I deigned to pull off an incredible idea I had just thought up, "Well, if we're going to crash, I know a good place to do it."

"The Latverian Embassy!" Ben guessed correctly & excitedly, saying it with me in sync.

"Here we go! Hold on, everybody!" he added.

Springing into action, Ben, Ozai & myself made an exit from the lab: to angle the remaining two Doombot rockets situated at the building's base. It would enable the building to land on a horizontal plane.

Getting out through a large window of a different floor, we three fought mighty air currents to finally reach the edge of our 'vehicle'. My legs were still in the building whereas the rest of me was stretched all the way out. I had one arm around each of them both as they progressed to pull the ends of the rockets upward, in case they fell off. Nervousness crept upon me at the thought of them falling simultaneously; that would be a heavy load to hang on to! Ozai took the left rocket & Ben the right.

Luck took our side, as the landing of the Baxter Building in the water was smooth indeed.

As things calmed back down I said, "Well…that was interesting." We got back our footing on the building's outer wall.

"Hey, any landing you can walk away from is a good one, right?" came my best friend's rhetoric question.

Coming down to the roof end of the building, the six of us grouped together again.

"Why is everything spinning?" I heard Susan asking as our other three members came to meet us. On each side of hers, Azula & Johnny were supporting her while they all walked. Susan must've expended tons more energy protecting the roof's interior; that would explain her temporary difficulty in maintaining her balance.

Johnny had something hilarious to say, "Whoa! There's three Bens down there! & three Reeds! & three Dr. -"

"We get it!" snapped Azula.

As soon as they were ready, Ben, Sue & Ozai smashed down the nearest brick wall we found to grant us passage into Doom's lair. The inside had the appearance like that of a factory, quite cleverly masking our archenemy's fearsome, sinister nature. I was sure that the higher the floors, though, we'd see more of Doom in the architecture…The coast was clear when we performed a meticulous check on our surroundings.

Something struck my mind & I let everyone know, "Head up to the Throne Room; that's where you'll find Doom. I'll join you as soon as I can. I have to make a stop. Ozai, you'd want to see this."

"You're going to check out his lab, aren't you? Nerd envy!" said Johnny.

"Something like that," I responded.

With that, Leopard X & I left the group, surveying the characteristics of the structures around us that might just give our scientist eyes the clues to where Victor's lab would be possibly built. We passed several minutes doing this, till my computer spoke to me via my earpiece as we walked down a corridor with a low ceiling.

"Hi, Dr. Richards!!!"

"H.E.R.B.I.E.! What is it? Are you ready?"

"Yep! But I wanted to ask you…did you know your back up files & research on Cosmic Energy are here? The safe's homing beacon is going off way above you."

"No…no, I didn't know that." Wow, yet another burst of incredible luck. I could inflict critical damage to Doom's lab to minimize the dangers he posed (hopefully for a period of a few weeks) & on the same day reclaim my long-lost files! Victor had hoarded them for himself for too long a period of time.

The corridor opened up to the actual lab. Extremely large & menacing it was; some sunlight was allowed to penetrate the glass atrium windows to blend with the red light emitted by most of the lab machinery. Not overly menacing for us though. Doom may have been backed up with the quality of genius, but I had already learnt that things didn't just stop there. Doom's brains enabled him to work well on his 'brawn'. However, **the wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger. **To be at least a single step ahead of our adversary, our level of good old-fashioned wisdom had to surpass his. Not to be a braggart, but villains commonly lacked such a quality.

"Doom has got interesting taste," Ozai uttered. His tail swished without any audible sound.

"Target: Mr. Fantastic!"

"Target: Leopard X!"

A couple of Doombots monitoring the computers turned to face us, raising their weaponry. But I laughed to myself inside, for we'd already won, technically…


	5. Overload Meltdown

"Shut them down, H.E.R.B.I.E. All of them. & then let's see what we can do about Doom's lab."

**One should always plan his course in heart & mind** before his hands get to work. That was the kind of 'wisdom' Nathaniel & Evelyn Richards always taught. **If you ever found it, your hopes were hardly ever cut off. **

In more or less an instant the Doombots were disarmed, no longer posing a threat to us. Ozai & I took two different routes in order to locate any good spots to override Victor's central computer system. Since the area wasn't that large, we could communicate verbally from a distance instead of doing so with comm. devices. & from experience, if Doom were to come down here right now, he'd descend from the Throne room right above us. Therefore I placed much trust in Leopard X's animal senses lest we did not leave the lab undetected.

"Ozai, I found one hotspot to carry it out!" I called him over to a fairly large screen with a matching console below it.

On all fours, he leapt swiftly from the higher floor he was checking to station himself on my left.

"Then let's do it," were his short words.

When Doom had switched bodies with me a number of months ago, I had figured out the hex code he used to unlock & perform numerous functions in his lair. This computer requested for the same code, which, thankfully, was solid in my memory. I began to key in a very lengthy special code to initiate the meltdown of the system.

"Do you mind?" asked Ozai suddenly, flexing the smooth-curved claws of his paws. I understood what he meant right away, thus nodding to give him my assent.

I completed the coding sequence & stepped aside for him. In just minutes, the computers all around & above us would be affected as well. Placing all ten deadly claws along one edge of the monitor, Leopard X slashed diagonally with incredibly mustered force. Little white sparks shot out in every direction from the screen as we backed away. Looked like our job down there was pretty much done.

Our quickest way out was our way _up_ - to join our fellow members of the team & surprise Doom with our pre-emptive 'strike' i.e. destroying his precious lab.

I could stretch upward at decent speed; just about as speedily as Ozai scaled the walls & railings with ease. The hardest part of the mission had been taken care of. A big hole in the Throne Room floor above allowed us to enter. "I say we trash this bum once & for all, & turn him in for recycling," we overheard Ben deciding on behalf of the rest. Soon we were right beside our friends to face Doom.

I cut into the dialogue, "It doesn't matter. We're leaving."

Johnny was ticked off, "What?! You're gonna let him win? He shot us into space! Can't we just hit him? At least once?"

"No. I've got a better idea," I muttered.

The short pause which ensued almost seemed to make Doom tremble. "What have you done, Richards?" he demanded an answer.

So I gave it to him, "I made a quick stop, Victor. In your lab. It was surprisingly easy to set off a computer overload meltdown."

Victor growled under his breath, "You all do not yet know what suffering is. Especially you, Fantastic Four!" If his lab systems hadn't been crumbling, he would have exploded further into effusions regarding his magnificence or similar matters. With that he activated his boots to propel him to safety. He darted over & above us & then into the hole in the floor, lithe as his thought patterns were at times.

Johnny said aloud, "Yeah, you'd BETTER run!"

"Leave?" Susan asked.

"Probably a good idea," I replied. She generated a wide, flat platform for us to hitch a ride on, except Johnny preferred flying on his own. The large but thin glass window in the Throne Room provided the best exit; we smashed through it in no time. I felt a good surge of satisfaction at that moment, thinking of the 'togetherness' we all managed to establish within our team. We were, as a single unit, a formidable opponent for any super-villain coming our way.

"Why would Doom want your research on Cosmic Energy?" Susan enquired of me while we hovered over the ocean water by the Latverian Embassy. I wagered it was nearly seven in the morning, for the sun shone brilliantly at us.

"It's Doom; who knows why he does anything? He could use the data to depower us…give himself powers…create some kind of cosmic power monster…end the universe…that kind of thing," came my explanation.

Ben then said, "Oh, good. Then nothing big."

"I'm personally gonna have to get used to this sort of thing," said Azula.

"But we stopped him. It'll take Doom a long time before he can menace the world again," I made a conclusion.

Down below, we watched four utility choppers aid in transporting the Baxter Building to the mainland. Yet a thought interrupted me & I said, "Still, I can't help but think I'm forgetting something."

I wasn't long before I remembered._ Our neighbours were still in my lab!_

_***_

Courtney aside, the other tenants at least said a 'thank you' to us for saving the day despite what inconvenience we caused them. We passed a few hours overseeing the transportation of our building back into its proper place. & of course, the media came to us for information to fill the papers with rather exciting headlines.

We had forgotten all about breakfast until Johnny pointed it out. Susan & I weren't hungry to join the others at Ben's favourite restaurant, so we settled the interviews at the site of our home while they amused their morning hours downtown.

Ozai hadn't been able to remove his armour, so he programmed it to reshape into what looked like a metallic version of a formal suit or jacket. I found it to be very intriguing.

Later when the building was back in place, Ben told me he had let Johnny, Azula & Ozai use his "All You Can Eat" status that morning.

"That's...great," I let him know cheerfully.

"I'm off to the gym. Catch ya later...," he said before leaving.

I was ensuring the lab was in tip top shape when Ozai came up the elevator to greet me. He was clad in normal apparel, namely his favourite beige jacket & white shirt underneath, along with his dark, sleek trousers.

"Need any assistance, Reed?" he asked nicely.

"There's no need for that. Just to be inquisitive, how was your first experience with Doctor Doom in person? It may have been short, but I can't help but ask."

He grinned, "That bothers me less than the need to take a long rest. I'm exhausted."

"I see your point," I said casually, "Go & freshen up. I'll be fine up here."


End file.
